Jungle Myna Identification Guide

Key Field Marks

• Size & shape: Medium-sized, stocky myna similar in build to the Common Myna.
• Plumage: Overall sooty gray-brown body, slightly darker on the head and wings.
• Head: A short tuft of forward-projecting feathers on the forehead (frontal crest) is a key identification feature, along with a pale, bluish-white to pale-yellow iris.
• Bill & legs: Bill is yellow with a bluish or grayish base; legs are yellow.
• In flight: Shows a white patch on the primaries and a white tip to the tail.

Separating It From Similar Species

• Common Myna: Has bare yellow skin around the eye and a yellow bill without the bluish base, and lacks a forehead tuft — the two are easily separated once the forehead crest and eye color of Jungle Myna are noted.
• Bank Myna: Grayer overall, with an orange-red patch of bare skin behind the eye (rather than Jungle Myna's simple pale eye) and a more pronounced crest.

Where & When to See One

Common across the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia, favoring open country, agricultural land, grassland, forest edge, and increasingly urban and suburban areas. It is a non-migratory resident found year-round within its range, and has also become established as an introduced species in some other regions.

Behavior & Voice

Gregarious, often foraging on open ground, around livestock, and in cultivated fields for insects and other invertebrates; also takes fruit and nectar. Roosts communally, sometimes in large, noisy assemblies with other mynas and starlings. Voice is typical of mynas — a range of harsh chattering, squawking, and whistled notes, with some capacity for mimicry.